STEWART-HAAS RACING
Bluegreen Vacations Duel
Date: Feb. 15, 2024
Event: Bluegreen Vacations Duel
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2.5-mile oval)
Format: Twin 150-mile qualifying races that set the field for the Daytona 500
Duel No. 1 Winner: Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing (Toyota)
Duel No. 2 Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
SHR Finish:
● Chase Briscoe (Started 7th, Finished 9th/ Running, completed 60 of 60 laps in Duel No. 2)
● Ryan Preece (Started 7th, Finished 13th / Running, completed 60 of 60 laps in Duel No. 1)
● Josh Berry (Started 11th, Finished 17th/ Mechanical, completed 48 of 60 laps in Duel No. 2)
● Noah Gragson (Started 8th, Finished 21st/ Accident, completed 47 of 60 laps in Duel No. 2)
Notes:
● Drivers earning odd-numbered positions from Wednesday’s pole qualifying session were assigned to the first Duel race. Drivers earning even-numbered positions from pole qualifying competed in the second Duel race. The starting positions for each Duel race were based on qualifying times.
● This was Briscoe’s fourth appearance in the Duel. His best finish remains fourth, earned in 2022.
● Briscoe scored two regular-season points. Only the top-10 finishers in each Duel were awarded regular-season points.
● This was Preece’s fifth appearance in the Duel. His best finish remains fifth, earned in 2021
● This was Berry’s first appearance in the Duel. He is running for rookie-of-the-year honors in 2024.
● This was Gragson’s third appearance in the Duel. His best finish remains 11th, earned last year.
● Briscoe will start 20th in the Daytona 500. His best Daytona 500 finish is third, earned in 2022.
● Preece will start 25th in the Daytona 500. His best Daytona 500 finish is sixth, earned in 2021.
● Berry will start 32nd in the Daytona 500. This year’s Daytona 500 will be his first start in the Great American Race.
● Gragson will start 40th in the Daytona 500. His best Daytona 500 finish is fifth, earned in 2022.
Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang:
“The beginning of the race I tried to save fuel as much as I could. It seems like this race, the shorter you can make the final pit stop, the better position you put yourself in. We rode around probably 15th on back at the beginning, and after the fuel cycle we were third or fourth. I thought that was the right play to do. It was starting to get dicey at the end and I couldn’t miss the wreck there with (Ryan) Blaney. Tore our car up a little bit. We didn’t kill it, but we have a lot of work to do just to get it ready. Fortunately, we have a practice tomorrow to see where we stack up, but I thought our car handled really well, which is always a positive here.”
Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang:
“We have a really good HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang. With there being four Fords in the race, I tried to stick with Joey (Logano) and Chris (Buescher) and Todd (Gilliland) and, ultimately, we were playing the (fuel) saving game so much that we lost a lot of track position. But our cars are going to be fast. I’m not worried. I’m just going to race the heck out of everybody on Sunday.”
Josh Berry, driver of the No. 4 SUNNYD Ford Mustang:
“I’m pretty happy with our car. It was obviously a unique situation we were in, but I thought we were able to make some moves, make some progress, and learn a lot. I thought our car was solid, I just hate the issue that we had there at the end. We were in a really good spot, and it was a great opportunity to learn up front but, unfortunately, we didn’t get re-fired there. My guys will get everything fixed up and then we have a couple practice sessions to work through some things and then go race on Sunday.”
Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 10 Black Rifle Coffee/Ranger Boats Ford Mustang:
“It was going well. We had just made our green-flag pit stop and then shortly after a half-dozen laps after we all went off pit road the top lane started going and they started stacking. I was probably fifth or sixth in line on the top row and they started wrecking and came across the track. I saw the 24 car (William Byron) and rode in the ambulance with Kyle Busch, (Ryan) Blaney and Riley (Herbst), so I don’t know where they were. I got some good experience – ran up front before we pitted. I worked really well with the other Ford Mustang drivers. Riley Herbst and I were tandem driving up there in the front two rows. It gave us a little experience in our Black Rifle Coffee/Ranger Boats Ford Mustang tonight. It’s unfortunate that we got torn up. The guys at Stewart-Haas Racing have been working really, really hard and I think our backup will run well. It sucks going back there because of all of the hard work, but I’m just grateful to be back here and we’ll give them hell on Sunday.”
Next Up:
The 66th running of the Daytona 500 takes place at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
